1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a new and improved apparatus using plastic bookbinding strips wherein the male strip has flexible studs which fit through holes in the sheets to be bound and also through holes in the female binding strip. Longitudinally extending from each hole in the female strip is a groove. When the strips have been compressed together with the sheets therebetween, the ends of the studs projecting beyond the female strip are bent at approximately 90.degree. angles so that the studs snap into the grooves in the underside of the female strip, thereby binding the book. Such strips are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,700 and particularly FIGS. 23-25.
The apparatus described in this application is a modification of a machine illustrated and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,354,783 for PUNCHING AND BINDING MACHINE. The latter machine was designed for use with thermoplastic strips wherein the excess stud length was cut off and heads formed on the ends of the cut off strips to bind the sheets in a book. Many of the features of this machine are incorporated in the present machine, as hereinafter described.
2. Description of Related Art
Binding strips using flexible studs are now commonly used. However, commercialization of such studs has heretofore been confined primarily to manual compression of the strips with the paper therebetween and manual bending of the excess stud lengths into the grooves. Mechanisms for bending the studs are shown in the aforesaid U.S. applications, Ser. Nos. 07/313,248 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,906,157 and 07/360,880. The present invention provides a desk top machine in which a motor driven paper punch may be incorporated and wherein the compression of the strips and the bending of the studs are mechanically accomplished either with the use of an electric motor or a manually actuated lever.